“The United States is leaking information to the media in order to avert an Israeli strike in Iran: The US Administration recently shifted into high gear in its efforts to avert an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities by the end of the year. The flood of reports in the American media in recent weeks attests not only to the genuine US fear that Israel intends to realize its threats; moreover, it indicates that the Obama Administration has decided to take its gloves off.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Administration took their gloves off when dealing with Russia or Iran.

15 responses to “Selling out an ally”

Yup, that’s right. Talk “tough” with an ally, but oh lordy don’t want to tee-off the bad guys out there. Leaking stuff to the media is shifting into high gear? We certainly have no shortage of wimps in this administration.

Thanks Daryle. Now it’s starting to feel like the old times around here. And that my friends, is a good thing.

Thanks OAF, but we all know Lex would have had something pithy, witty, and wise to say. I can’t imagine why “we” would put pressure on Putin to help disarm Iran in exchange for… I don’t know, reducing our nuke stocks or withdrawing anti missile systems from Eastern Europe. Then agin, I didn’t go to Harvard Law. 🙂

I swear to God if That Man sells out our solemn promise to Israel to Watch their Six in dealings with Iran in the Mid East, I’m going to, well, buy some of that nasty clay you get in kraft stores and start making a voo-doo doll. That Person is a disgrace to the country. Wasn’t it Einstein who said that if you keep doing the same thing you’ve been doing over and over, expecting a different result, you are just plain insane?
Well, there you are….
Marianne

Information Dissemination found tw interesting tidbits yesterday: all 17 Saudi chartered and flagged very large crude carriers will be in US waters next weekend…and the Israeli IDF has cancelled Passover for the force.

I find it fitting that they might choose Passover as the time to strike. Now if only WunWhoWon will keep his bucket mouth shut, should Israel strike.
Full moon? Dude, isn’t that when the werewolves come out to play?

If you accept the premise that war with Iran is bad then the Administration’s actions make sense. Iran only has three weapons with wich to strike back at Israel: Ballistic missiles, terrorist groups, and attacking oil shipping in the gulf.

Israel has a pretty effective missile defense network, and I doubt Iran’s missiles have the accuracy necessary to cause any real harm without a WMD warhead.

Hamas and Hezbollah are both suffering from the instability in their local sponsor’s countries. With Egypt and Syria in turmoil I doubt either group could mount a sustained operation against Israel. They also have a pretty poor track record vs the IDF.

Which means atttacking oil shipping is the only really effective way Iran can respond to an Israeli attack. And this is where Obama is forked. If Iran does attack shipping he would have no choice but to go to war with Iran. This violates the foundational assumption. Of course you know what they say about assumptions.

Obama is going to have a hard enough time getting re-elected without shattering the traditional Democrat alliance. So in order to keep the pacifist wing happy he has to betray Israel without looking like he’s betraying Israel and losing the Jewish vote. I pity the man. Actually, that’s a lie. The schadenfreude is so thick over here you can taste it. And it’s delicious.

I’m with Jeff on this one. An additional note: a commentor in days past noted that the Tomahawk strikes on Libya would have been of much more use on the electrical grid of Iran. Let’s face it; the family name of the United States isn’t the best in the world, global force for good and soft COIN non withstanding, might as well set the mullahs back on their heels while we are taking our licks verbally.

If you gentlemen and warriors would explain to me what Israel’s “Iron Dome” is, and why it should make me a little more hopeful about their ability to defend themselves from Iran and the Palestinians and any other rats and snakes in the Mid-East, I might feel slightly more confident about Israel’s survival.
Come on now, guys. You all know so much more than I do. Show me…
Marianne

Marianne, Iron Dome is a “tactical” system only suited for intercepting short range rockets such as those fired from Lebanon or Gaza. If Iran launches a bigger rocket, from Iran proper, the Arrow system or possibly their Patriot batteries, would be used to intercept.

The problem with big rockets from Iran… they have small warheads and relatively poor accuracy. They don’t do any militarily significant damage. Accordingly, the temptation to arm them with weapons of mass destruction (either chemical or nuclear) is much higher. Hence, it follows that the need to intercept every missile goes way up. Which drives down the benefit of any conventional weapon. Which raises the temptation to use nuclear or chemical warheads. Which drives up the need to intercept every missile.. which…